Claw & Order
by Flapjaw
Summary: Bored of patrols, Judy and Nick set out to become detectives so they can focus on solving cases. As they do they'll discover more secrets from the city's underbelly, and learn new truths about each other and the past. Some things are so horrible that simply knowing them is painful, but more widely opened eyes are often kinder.
1. A Brief History of Tame Collars

1947 – Two years after the second World War, upon a stage.

"Due to recent events here at home, it has come to the attention of this administration that predators are not capable of handling shell-shock on their own. They need our help, protection, therapy... they need something to stop them from killing their families in fits of uncontrollable rage. Even the slightest noise can set them off and ruin their entire lives in a moment of weakness and savagery. Therefore, I present the Tame Collar." The crowd ogled the device their capybara mayor held forward for them, the white glow of the light on the collar indicating it wasn't active but still had power. "These lovely devices will respond to the adrenaline that courses through a predator's body in times of distress, shocking them back to reality before it's too late."

1954 – In a recording studio.

"Doctor," asked a zebra mare of a giraffe bull, "now that the demand for tame collars has increased and all predator veterans are wearing them, Zootopia wants to know: what is it that makes them so great?"

"Shock therapy has always been effective in private sessions, but it can't permanently cure chronic mental illness. The tame collars have solved this issue."

"Shock therapy, you say?"

"Yes, a sudden jolt of electricity can unscramble a warped mind. War warps minds, and now this can be applied at every moment when it is needed."

"If war was our only problem then we would want tame collars on our prey veterans too, wouldn't we?" Her tone of voice made it clear that she held no such belief, her delivery merely acceptable enough for the cameras to keep rolling while the doctor straightened his tie.

"Predators are more predisposed to violent outbursts and aggressive behavior. It's in their biology. We can't stop it entirely, but we can help them to function in our diverse society by giving them a..." He paused for a moment, searching for the right words, and then smirking imperceptibly when he found them. "A reminder to be good."

1960 – At the peak of escalation in Vernam and the start of the war for the South Seas.

A rabbit in camouflage fatigues and a small flak jacket stared down at the pile of dog tags in his helmet with a far-off look in his eyes, the rhino beside him shaking his head dismally. "War is Hell. Why did they have to go and draft a bunch of bunnies?"

"War might be Hell, Berns, but at least I don't have to wear one of those damn collars out here." The helicopter they were riding in lurched as they were hit by a wave of turbulence, the majority of the mammals looking about in concern as they wondered what was happening. It took them a moment to process that they weren't under attack from the Vernamese or the Vern-Kong, and once they did they returned to their conversation. The wolf smiled at the rhino as he continued. "I'd rather die out here than spend the rest of my life unable to enjoy sex."

"What the fuck, Hopkins?" The rhino seemed both appalled and confused, the cheetah of the squad chuckling to himself.

"Not all the Vernamese hate us, Hopkins. Maybe you can fuck some of the villagers."

"I can't believe I have to fight with you freaks."

"The collar takes away everything, Berns. My wife wants pups, but she can't enjoy getting them." The rhino snorted at that, but kept listening. "If she likes what I'm doing too much then her collar shocks her, it's plenty strong enough to kill anything trying to become a life in her loins. I have to stroke myself and slide in when I'm almost there, and I use breathing exercises to keep my own heart-rate down." by the time Hopkins was finished Berns was appalled for a whole new reason, even the mourning rabbit looking up from the sea of dog tags to stare at the wolf.

"This is your first war, and your wife isn't a soldier, is she?" Hopkins shook his head for the rhino. "Then they can't make you wear the collars in private. That's bullshit!"

"Not since '57," the cheetah interjected, idly checking his M60 machine gun. "There was a massive spike in domestic violence in the previous year, and now only the cops can remove collars." A look fell over the rabbit's face as if he knew he was going to die with absolute certainty, the helmet filled with tags hitting the deck and drawing the attention of the other soldiers. "You okay there, Hopps?"

"I'm sorry," he said vaguely to both of the predators in the helicopter.

"At least we don't have to wear them to war. A few months of freedom ain't bad, and dying after is a nice bonus too." Their sensitive ears perked to the distinct sound of a rocket being launched, but by the time they processed that they needed to warn the pilot they were already hit. The helmet Hopps had dropped was gone.

"Brace for impact!"


	2. A Night Remembered

_Pain. Nothing but pain. There was no moving, there was no talking, there was no thinking, only electric pain coursing through his body from his neck where a red light shone, and kicking and stomping feet all around him. He endured it for as long as he could, but this time his attempt to scream was met with success._

Suddenly it was all gone, the terrors of sleep pushed from his mind as Judy jumped up in shock in his lap. They'd drifted off on his couch while watching classic horror films on a Saturday evening, if he could trust his hazy memory. He clung to that memory to keep the much older, much darker thoughts at bay, his ears twitching in agitation. His left paw was on his neck, his claws running through the fur where his tame collar would be if they hadn't been made illegal at the turn of the century.

"Nick?" Her concerned voice drew his attention away from himself, her brilliant amethyst eyes studying him and her nose twitching a little. It was a clear indication of fear, but the way her hand stroked his chest as she crawled closer made it known that she wasn't scared of him. She was scared for him.

"I'm fine, Carrots," he lied with a shaky voice, not ready to confront what had haunted his night. Still, the evasion seemed to hurt Judy, or maybe it was the way his emerald eyes shone with unshed tears, but either way that wouldn't sit well with Nick. He moved his paw from his neck to her head, lightly brushing his claws over her droopy ears until they twitched with the desire to flick up, but she kept them down against her back so he could keep it up until he was satisfied that her mood had improved. When she gave an accepting smile he was finally able to pull himself together and put the nightmare out of his thoughts.

Then she pushed his paw away in a show of false indignation, tapping her finger against his snout. "Paws off, Mister Wilde. Besides, we have to get ready for the Sunday shift." Nick groaned at the reminder, though he was grateful that they didn't have to start quite as early as usual on the typical Sunday shift.

"God I hope Bogo has another case for us. Patrolling to hand out speeding tickets would be the most egregious waste of a Sunday ever."

"This is the most egregious waste of a Sunday ever." Bogo had not had a case for them.

"If it will stop you from whining then you can pick the music this time." Nick's tail twitched nervously, but there was no other indication that what he was about to do was a bit of a risk.

"I want you to remember that you made this happen. If you can't handle an old Todd's taste then it's your own fault that you had to find out." Nick was thirty-three, but compared to his twenty-five year old partner he could superficially be considered an old Todd in relative terms.

"Thank Zootopia's politicians that we can even listen to music on patrol. There are still a few towns out there where that's against regulation."

"What, like in Bunnyburrow?" Judy shook her head in response. "Listen Fluff, if going against regulation isn't strictly illegal then I don't care."

"It's not against regulation, so I don't care either. Now play something before I change my mind." Nick complied, connecting his phone to the cruiser via Bluetooth and tapping his claw over Weazer & Wool's 'Bunny Holly,' taking a deep breath as it started up. Judy was genuinely surprised when he started singing along, her ears turning toward him as she absorbed the lyrics of the quirky love song she'd never heard before.

She couldn't prevent the reddening of her inner ears when she heard him sing "my girl" while looking right at her. The following "but you know I'm yours. Woo-hoo, and I know your mine," really wasn't helping her blush get any less intense, especially since the music was kept relatively low compared to the police radio and Nick's voice was what primarily carried the words to Judy's ears. _Just ask him out already, Judy,_ she thought to herself. _He's obviously too nervous to do it himself. He's singing you a love song and he just implied he'd break the fraternization regulations._ "Ooo-ee-ooo! I look just like Bunny Holly. Ooo-ee-ooo! And you're Mary Tyler Moore. I don't care what they say about us anyway. I don't care 'bout that."

As Judy approached a red traffic light she resolved to stop this before her blush could get any worse, turning to Nick fully with a questioning smirk. "You look like a bunny?" She'd really poured on the sarcasm for that one, and his eyes looked downcast for a half-second. She quickly came to the conclusion that he thought she was rejecting him for not looking like a buck, so she continued to put that out of his mind. "You're much too handsome for that. Bucks are just cute." And there was the near imperceptible increase in the height of his smile.

"The weasel who sings it looked like that particular bunny. Same dorky glasses, same eye color, same charming grin."

"It can't be as good as yours, Slick Nick." _Just do it. No more hopping around the bush._ "You want to go out to dinner this Wednesday?"

"Are you asking me as your friend or as your crush?"

"As if you haven't been crushing on me too." Judy was distracted from her happiness for how smoothly things were going when her ear perked back toward a banging sound. It was faint, the music and Nick's laugh making her unsure if she'd really heard anything, but she held up a paw for him to shut up and brought her window down, scrutinizing the very familiar van beside their cruiser. "Finnick?" She knew he'd just ignore her if she didn't pull the megaphone, his loudly banging music the perfect excuse to pretend his perfect ears couldn't hear her through the window.

"Carrots, is that thing really necessary?" She hesitated for a moment, the perpendicular traffic in front of them thinning out as the intersection was readying to let them through.

She depressed the trigger on the megaphone. "Pull into the parking lot two blocks down on the left, sir." Nick sighed dejectedly behind her, and she thought she saw Finnick's grip tighten on his steering wheel.

"Judy, this is a bad idea." Nick's tone only convinced her that she was right, and that made her gut clench up. She felt like she was going to be sick, but she followed Finnick closely, watching at the moment of truth. He would either turn into the parking lot, or he would try to out drive her. Both vehicles were totally still at the turn for a few seconds, long enough for the car behind the cruiser to let loose with its horn.

Slowly the van pulled in, parking in the back away from the other cars mammals had driven to the hardware store, Judy parking right beside him. When she looked at Nick his confident smirk was gone, replaced by a disappointed frown, an expression she returned in the full realization of what he'd wanted her to do. "Come on, Nick. We need to have a talk with our friend."

"So he's your friend too, huh?" His feigned surprise and sarcastic chuckle gave Judy the urge to kick him in the face for implying that she was the one in the wrong, but it also made the sick feeling in her stomach so much worse. Every step she took toward the silver, unpainted door made the feeling twist and knot in her gut as she glanced at the contrasting mural occasionally. Nick was standing right behind her, and the megaphone trembled in her paws as she lifted it, but Nick placed his paw on it and gently pushed it back down. "Act casual, Fluff."

Finnick obviously heard him, kicking the door open and smiling at them like nothing was wrong. "Ya two coppas know ya can't be taking time off to chat like this for long. Who da fucks gonna pass out speedin' tickets." He rather conspicuously spoke over his music rather than stopping it, but Judy had good ears too and Nick's chuckle was a bit too late to distract her from the distinct clang of a hoof hitting metal from the back. Just like a limo, Finnick had a handy little barrier separating the front from the back. The only windows to the back were on the back doors and covered by red velvet so no one could see inside. His extended pedals mirrored Judy's so he could drive the vehicle large enough for much larger mammals.

She hated the thoughts that drove her, but she wouldn't deny the truth. "Can we have a look in the back, Finnick?"

"Officially? Hell no. By the look of your ear you must think you got probable cause, so." He added a shrug, flipped off the music, killed the engine, and jumped out of the car, slamming the door closed and starting to lead them toward the back.

"We don't have probable cause, Judy," Nick's voice raged in her ear, a trembling whisper as his uneven breath hit her fur.

"We are not having this conversation, Officer Wilde."

"I did this for you, Nick. She's good for ya. I ain't gonna get in the way of that. You just keep bein' better than they expect of us and that'll be good enough for me."

Nick crossed his arms and scowled at Judy, leering down at her as she wilted in front of him, her ears folding back as she resisted the urge to sniffle. "I'm not doing this to him. You open the God damn door."

For some reason, when he said it like that, she just couldn't do it. She thought she was in love with him, she sure felt that way, but she was beginning to wonder if she even knew him at all.

"Nick, stop throwin' a tantrum and open the door for ya girl." Finnick was calm but serious, his gaze intense and his ear twitching with suppressed rage. Nick took the hint, but he didn't like it, shaking his head as he pulled the door open for the two shorter mammals, and all three of them got a good look at the stallion tied up and unconscious, laying on the floor with his bound legs occasionally twitching about as if he was having a running dream.

"Sweet cheese and crackers!" The nauseous feeling disappeared the moment her fears were confirmed, replaced by a growing numbness that had her body responding on autopilot when Nick grabbed her shoulder and pushed her forward.

"Get in the car, Fluff. You too, Fin."

"Don't make this no harder than it already is, mam."

"Just do it! We're gonna have ourselves a little conversation about business."


	3. The Real World

The atmosphere was tense with the feelings of rage surging through Nick's skin, making his fur fluff up as he pointedly kept his eyes away from Judy. His partner was in arguably worse shape, staring blankly at the stallion between her and Finnick, trying to ignore the baseball bat, the brass knuckles, the pliers, the _chainsaw_. Finnick was playing the part of the mildly inconvenienced gangster near perfectly, but there was obvious concern in his eyes as he stared back at his childhood friend, an ear tilted toward Judy as if listening for signs of distress.

"Why don't you tell Judy who we have here and why."

"Nick... don't do this to her, mam."

"The alternative is that the girl I love sends my best friend to jail." Judy was incensed instantly, turning to Nick to give him a piece of her mind, but that's when she saw it, the emotion she hadn't caught behind the anger out in the parking lot. In the safe, enclosed space in the back of Finnick's van, Nick Wilde was crying, his arms trembling with emotion. He felt like he was one wrong word away from losing everything, and as angry as Judy was she couldn't do anything but blame herself and keep quiet. "That's not happening. Now bring her into the real world with us. What did he do?"

Finnick sighed with a pain in his voice Judy had never heard before, running a paw over his face as if he could wipe away his negative emotions. "The Stags hit little Morris, Nick."

Judy hadn't thought her partner could look any worse off than he already did, but she was dead wrong. He _whined_ , held his own snout for a moment, his jaw twitched open and shut, his ears shivering on their way down and his eyelids flickering as if his eyes were trying to close, as if he had to force himself to face what he was listening to. She wasn't mad at him at all anymore, just confused and afraid.

"I-is h-he okay, Fin?" Finnick opened his maw with a fake smile, but Nick interrupted, even though it sounded like he could barely keep from breaking down into sobs. "No bullshit, Fin. T-tell us the truth."

Finnick frowned, nodded once, and started talking. "The Stags are idiots, Nick. Sadistic idiots. They wanted to relive the moment. They took pictures, mam."

"Sh-show us, please. She has to see." Finnick was shaking his head as he retrieved the phone and handed it to Nick, the screen a bit large in his paws, as large as a bunny-sized mini-tablet. "What's the c-code?" Finnick told him, he unlocked the phone, and soon his trembling paws had navigated to the camera history.

Judy was beyond feeling sick, finally feeling the same anger that had been coursing through Nick. The pictures showed a polar bear cub on the sidewalk, no older than ten, blood staining his white fur and one of his teeth out of place. Judy made a sound deep in her throat, like she was trying to throw up as Nick flicked backwards through the camera's history. Morris' nose was split and bleeding, though it was hard to tell through the muzzle they'd put on him, his right eye was black and swollen, and his right paw hung as if his wrist was broken.

"Koslov is torn up and pissed off. They're family to Mister Big. He's ordered a wipe on the Stags. They're all gonna die. I'm just doin' my part here."

"Oh God," Judy gasped when she saw the play button on the center of the screen, not wanting to think about what she knew she was about to see.

"You d-didn't say anything about a video, Fin."

"Ya don't need to see that." Finnick didn't get any further, cursing under his breath when Nick tapped the screen.

" _H-hey guys!"_ Judy stared at the screen, her skin tingling with an emotion she couldn't identify. His backpack was green. His smile was nervous. _"What's with the bats?"_ He yelped in pain when a hoof hit his groin, then a metal bat flashed across the screen and he was groaning on the ground.

It didn't stop. Blow after blow came down on the child. The bats were already bloody when he raised his arm to shield his face, and he whined when the crack of a wrist breaking sounded. That's when one bat laid into his face, his body lurching as more slammed into his ribs. _"P-please..."_

" _Stupid pred."_

" _Where's your collar, bitch?"_

" _You'll never belong in the city!"_

"Judy, stop!"

"That's a cop gun, they can trace that!" Nick had paused the video. She couldn't remember pulling her gun, but it was in her shaking paws, pointed directly at the unconscious stallion. When he snored peacefully she felt her finger tighten on the trigger. The only thing that stopped her from firing was a gentle caress of her arm as Nick moved his paws to hers, slowly pushing the gun down.

"Is Morris still alive?"

"Yeah, Nick, he's doin' alright. He knew to come to his daddy and not the coppas. Big's doctors patched him up. We think they didn't know who he was, so they probably been doin' this to a lot a different pred kids. They let him live on purpose. Wanted him to suffer."

"They wanted him to grow up hating himself." The echo of familiarity in Nick's voice broke Judy, and she lost track of how long she spent crying into his uniform.

They were sitting on the back of the van with the doors shut behind them. Judy didn't trust herself not to kill the stallion if she stayed inside, and the foxes didn't blame her. "Nick, take ya cruiser and get us some coffees... and take ya time doin' it, alright?" Nick just stared ahead for a few seconds as he processed that, but eventually he nodded, slipping on his very convincing 'relaxed mammal' face and casually strolling to the driver's side of the cruiser. "Okay, bunny cop. I think it's time you learned why this hurt Nick so much, but you ain't gonna hear it from me."

"Then why are we alone, Fin?"

"We got other things to talk about. You pry that story out a him tonight, ya hear me?" She nodded once. "Good. I don't want him sleepin' on it without some closure." They fell into an awkward silence for a moment, watching Nick drive off toward a coffee shop several blocks away, all the mammals further up the parking lot lost in their own concerns and paying them no mind.

Finnick sighed and lowered his ears, looking more genuinely saddened than Judy had ever seen him. He seemed exhausted to her eyes. "Do you know why I pulled over, Judy?" She just shook her head, almost wishing she'd never tried to pull him over in the first place. "You are the best damn thing that ever happened to Nick. He always wanted to be on your side of the law, protectin' people and shit like that. I didn't want him to have to pick between us so I made the decision for him."

Judy was quiet for a few minutes, stewing in her thoughts. To Finnick's surprise she was eventually smiling. There was still sadness in her expression, but acceptance too, and her limbs released all the extra tension she'd been carrying as she slumped back against the van.

"Weaselton," She said softly. "Duke Weaselton. Nick and I brought him to Mister Big so he could threaten him with death to get us the information we needed." Finnick quirked a brow in her direction as she looked directly at him and her smile darkened. "It was my idea. I'm not better than you, Fin. I just wanted to think that I was, just like I wanted to think I was better than Nick when we first met. I've been speciesist all my life and I just didn't know it."

"Ain't your fault. Most kids grow up speciesist, cause that's what most of the parents are, and their parents were even worse. I know it looks bad, but the world really is gettin' better. Most of us just give it time to change, but mammals like you are out to change it faster." He placed his paw on her arm, his frown a little softer and his ears perked up again. "Thank you for saving my friend."

"Oh come on, I haven't done much. He's tough on his own." That just seemed to have Finnick laughing and she huffed indignantly. "What's so funny?"

"He told me what happened when Manchas got hit with Nighthowler, girl. You literally saved his life so don't feed me none at that humble country bunny junk." She huffed at that and he raised his arms in surrender. "No offense."

"Yeah, well, did he also tell you that he only needed to be saved because he refused to abandon me when he had the chance to get away? He pulled the same protective stunt in the museum too."

"Mam, why ain't you two together yet? It's been months of this 'will they won't they' garbage. Everybody even remotely connected to Mister Big knows you two are meant for each other."

Judy sighed and slapped her paw into her face. "I can't believe we're being shipped like fictional characters."

"You're being shipped like celebrities, which is exactly what you are, Dumby." That got a laugh out of Judy as she lowered her arm and stared out at all the carefree mammals, going about their business, running from a screaming pig -

"My purse! He took my purse!"

She spotted the weasel again, muttering "God damn it, Duke" and drawing her stun gun from its holster and shaking her head as she hopped of the van. To her surprise, Finnick did too. She set off to chase him down, Finnick predicting where he'd run to and rushing to a crosswalk. "Stop in the name of the law!"

"Oh God, not again!" There were gasps throughout the bystanders Duke was dodging past as they recognized the only bunny cop in the ZPD, muttering her name and pulling out their phones to record the chase. "Piss off, Cottontail!"

"You're beaten, Duke!"

"Listen to her, motherfucker." Duke skid to a halt when he saw Finnick in front of him, Judy grabbing his arms a second later.

"I'm glad I didn't have to stun you. Thanks, Fin."

"First Nick and now you, 'ey Finnick? Why you helpin' this coppa?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Judy asked with feigned interest while she cuffed Duke's wrists. "He's just a citizen intervening in a theft."

"But heee ow!"

Judy had pulled him down to her level by his arms, whispering in his ear. "This is just petty theft, Duke. Don't make things any worse for yourself." Duke was reminded that they were both connected to Mister Big and started nodding in understanding.

"Alright Bun Bun, you got me." The pig who'd lost her purse to Duke finally caught up with them, thanking Judy profusely and by name, the little celebrity smiling for the camera phones as she handed the purse back.

"You have the right to remain silent..."

"I don't like falling back on purse snatchin', Bun Bun. Ain't been many good jobs lately. It's about time I had a break anyway. Prison is three square meals a day, ya know."

"I'm sorry, Duke." The weasel forced a toothy smile in her direction, his twitching ears showing the emotion beneath his facade.

"I know my way around the prison, Sweetcheeks. I'll be alright."

"I meant about the jobs, you dork!" She almost playfully punched his arm like she often did with Nick, but she stopped when he flinched, her ears drooping as her eyes rested on the uncomfortable position of his arms cuffed behind his back as they were. Her fist unclenched and she slowly pulled a key from her belt, her other paw placed softly on his arm, not grabbing or even holding him, just being there while she unlocked one of the cuffs.

"W-what are ya doin', Bunny?" She just looked kindly up at him and coaxed his arms from behind his back, stroking his fur and slowly locking the cuff again, giving his wrist more room to breath this time and then loosening the other cuff too. He flexed his fingers and bent his elbows, staring down at himself as if he didn't believe what he was seeing. Every time he'd been brought in before his arms had been kept behind his back, and they usually put a muzzle on him too. It was standard procedure on account of his sharp claws and teeth.

His breaths sounded like he was holding down a sob for a moment, and then he turned to Judy and spoke in a breathless voice. "Thank you... Officer Judy." Finnick did a good job staying composed, but as he watched all that a proud smile split his face. He knew he could always trust Judy Hopps after he saw that.

Meanwhile, her own eyes started tracking her cruiser as Nick drove it back into the parking lot. "Hey Duke, do you like coffee?"

"Eheh!" He almost choked up while he was laughing, sniffling to clear his nose. "I sure do, Officer."

"Just Judy, please."

"Yeah, he can have mine. I gotta get back to business anyway."

"Good luck, Finnick." Judy said, trying to deny how glad she was that the stallion in the van was about to disappear.

"You remember all that saccharine gunk I said about you tryin' to change the world faster?" She just nodded and gave him a _get on with it_ look. "Well, you're doin' a good job so far, Judy." Her nose twitched once and she stumbled back a step as if he'd just hugged her, the way he'd said her name suddenly filling her with confidence. She knew what she was doing what was right.


End file.
